Josef Adam Ritter von Mölck
Austrian, 1714–1794
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Joseph Adam Ritter von Mölk (also Mölck, Mölckh) was an Austrian fresco and panel painter. His father was the Viennese church painter Mathias Mölk from Vorarlberg.
From 1728 to 1733 Mölk enjoyed his education at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, his subsequent years of travel took him through southern Germany and he was influenced by the great artists of the southern German rococo period. He was appointed Bavarian electoral court painter. In 1755 he received the title "Court Chamber Painter in Tyrol", and in 1774 Empress Maria Theresa elevated him to the nobility with the title "Knight of Mölk".
Mölk's work was initially characterized by his father's training and was later influenced by Andrea Pozzo's perspective illusion painting. After his trip to Venice in 1759, the works of Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo also played an important role for him. Mölk also met Martin Johann Schmidt (Kremser Schmidt) while working in Lower Austria. An artistic influence on Mölk by Schmidt can be seen in the later works.
Mölk decorated more than 40 churches , monasteries and castles with paintings.